In the oriental medical art, it is said that there are the five viscera and the six entrails in a human body and when they are harmonized, the human health is ensured, and when disharmonized, various diseases may attack. Energy circulation pathways running through a body vertically up and down, that is, from the head to legs and from the chest to arms, termed meridians, control functions of the viscera and the entrails.
According to the ancient Chinese theory concerning the viscera and the entrails, the viscera include liver, heart, spleen, lung, kidney and heart constrictor, and the entrails include gall bladder, small intestine, paunch, large intestine, bladder and triple warmers. Accordingly, there are twelve main meridians named after corresponding parts of organs of the body and eight extra meridians. Among the eight extra meridians, two extra meridians passing through the front nerve center and the rear nerve center are grouped with the twelve main meridians and categorized as 14 meridians. In particular, there are points of the meridians at which the flow of an energy force, called Qi, is strong, which are called acupuncture points. The acupuncture points of each meridian are selectively stimulated by a Bosa method which is an acupuncture method combining Bo method and Sa method wherein Bo means promotive and Sa means inhibitive, to regulate an energy force, thereby promoting the flow of the energy force and harmonizing the viscera and the entrails. The acupuncture points are distributed along 14 main meridians at 360 positions throughout the body.
The ancient Chinese theory concerning the viscera and the entrails is essentially employed for determination and treatment of diseases in the clinical practice of the modern Oriental medical art. The clinical study of the modern medical science also proved that when there is abnormality in the organs or intestines, symptoms of pains, ache, stiffness, feeling of cold, hot feeling and so on, are developed in the shape of dots, lumps or lines on the skin or muscles directly associated with the abnormal organs or intestines. This phenomenon occurs just as the body is banded in a loop or knot. Also, there are several spots of strong reactivity along the band. In many cases, the spots correspond to acupuncture points.
In the Oriental medical art, acupuncture or moxibustion has been traditionally adopted to treat and regulate malfunctions of the viscera and the entrails by stimulating the acupuncture points. However, since the acupuncture or moxibustion causes severe pain arising due to bleeding, bruise or burning of the skin, people are basically unwilling to get treatment by the acupuncture or moxibustion. Thus, in spite of therapeutic effectiveness, acupuncture or moxibustion tends to be often avoided. Nowadays, infection with contagious diseases such as AIDS is a matter of great concern. The present invention relates to a method of modulating the human meridian system using a small bar magnet having a length of 3 cm or less, preferably 1 cm or less, instead of the conventional acupuncture or moxibustion.
In a conventional method of modulating the human acupuncture points or meridian system using a magnet, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, either the N or S pole of a conical magnet is attached to the skin so that the magnetic field is applied to the body, thereby stimulating the acupuncture points of the body. According to the method of attaching a pole of a magnet to the skin, however, local spots with the magnet attached thereto can only be stimulated, but the effect of modulating the meridian system cannot be expected.
An example of the conventional technique is a method of stimulating acupuncture points using two magnets such that the two magnets are adhered to each other by an adhesive tape with opposite polarities contacting each other and the magnets are contacted to acupuncture points, as disclosed in Korean Patent Publication 1995-31128. Korean Patent Publication No. 1990-14007 discloses a method of activating acupuncture point of a body using an acupuncture point controller having two magnet fixing devices by arranging outer ends of a permanent magnet with N and S poles of conical magnets being differently fixed to each outer end of the permanent magnet and making the outer ends get closer to acupuncture points, thereby directing a magnetic force generated from the magnet toward acupuncture points of the body and increasing the magnetic force through an iron plate flowing from a N pole to a S pole, to supply the magnetic force to hemoglobin in blood, thereby activating acupuncture point of the body.
As a further improvement, Korean Utility Model No. 164711 discloses a method in which a large tubular magnet and a small disc-shaped magnet having pores are superposed vertically to then be housed in a synthetic resin case, and the magnets are attached to an inductive iron plate so that the small magnet is made to fixedly contact an acupuncture point to stimulate the magnetic force, thereby regulating flow of Qi of a body. Also, in the disclosed method, the magnet is attached to two different acupuncture points and N and S poles are differently contacted to the acupuncture points considering the direction of flow of an energy acting therebetween. Blood circulation is affected by a magnetic energy applied between the two acupuncture points, and the inductive iron plate serves as an antenna. According to this technique, like in the conventional technology in which acupuncture points are stimulated by infiltrating a magnetic force into parts corresponding the acupuncture points, blood circulation is promoted or inhibited using a magnetic force, based on the fact that hemoglobin in blood is ferroelectric. However, it is very difficult to apply this technique into actual practice because a device according to this technique is complicated and is inconvenient to carry.